Sewage has been discharged into Cornwall’s waterways despite an official drought having been declared in the county.
South West Water’s website shows that the monitor at Town Quay pumping station overflow in Fowey was activated between 9.03am and 10.56pm – a total of 1 hour and 53 minutes, and again between 8.55pm and 11.18pm on 16 August – a total of two hours and 23 minutes.
Sewage discharges occurred at the same overflow, which is owned and operated by South West Water, a day earlier. On 15 August, sewage was discharged between 8.18am and 10.25am and between 8.07pm and 10.57pm.
The overflow spills into the River Fowey estuary, near popular bathing spots such as Whitehouse Beach, Polkerris Beach, and Readymoney Cove. Meanwhile, a part of the River Fowey in Lostwithiel gained official designated bathing water status with routine Environment Agency testing.
The incidents follow a drought being declared in Cornwall on 29 July after record-breaking dry weather, which saw river flows, groundwater levels and reservoir storage decline across much of the country.
England recorded its driest July on record, with some areas receiving no rain. Meanwhile, water firms are losing 2.6 billion litres of water each day due to leakages, per Environment Agency data.
Devon and Cornwall received 7mm of rain in July, just eight per cent of the long term average, figures show. The Environment Agency said this was the driest July since records began in 1871, although a wet winter meant reservoirs were higher than during the drought in June 2022.
Storm overflows are effectively safety valves on the wastewater network. When the system becomes too full, typically following heavy rainfall, storm overflows release the excess.
Their use during a drought has sparked backlash from water safety campaigners, who said the discharges were not “one-off accidents”.
A spokesperson for Surfers Against Sewage said: “It’s simply unacceptable that in the middle of an official drought, South West Water is discharging sewage at Cornwall’s coastal beauty spots, while families and locals are out enjoying the water.
“This isn’t a one-off accident; it’s what happens when a system is built to protect profit over public health.
“The only fix is ending the profit motive that drives this broken model, and the government must deliver that change and clean up our waters.”
Water companies blame ‘spring tides’
South West Water said: “These activations are due to very high tides in the area. The activations are caused by the spring tides entering the sewer and causing a very diluted short spill when the tide drains out. All assets in the area have been checked and are operating as expected.
“Town Quay activations in Fowey are due to the pumps not keeping up with the increased spring tidal levels, so there is a short spill occurring on the ebb tide. We are continuing to monitor our network and investigate any reports of changes in water quality.
“We are targeting Fowey as part of our £760m storm overflow reduction programme. This programme aims to reduce the impact of storm overflows and improve the health of rivers and coastal waters through a range of targeted measures across the catchment.”
The latest Town Quay sewage discharges come after South West Water denied it was dumping sewage into Cornwall’s rivers and waterways in response to separate alerts earlier this month.
Responding to sewage discharge alerts at Flushing sewage pumping station and Roberts Ope combined sewage overflow outlets in Cornwall highlighted by Surfers Against Sewage earlier in August, South West Water said “the spring tides caused the Event Duration Monitoring (EDM) to record a false activation”.
The sensitivity of the overflow monitors means they can sometimes be triggered by leaves, twigs or even spider webs, leading to a false indication that the overflow is in operation.
However, any activations confirmed as false readings are later removed from published data.
England’s waterways are in trouble
It comes as widespread criticism of water companies across England about sewage spills and contaminated waterways has grown.
Just last week swimmers at the first official bathing site on the River Thames were warned not to enter the water due to toxic blue-green algae. The algae has a number of causes, including extreme heat, low river flow, and nutrient pollution from sewage waste.
The i Paper’s Save Britain’s Rivers campaign has been shining a light on the awful state of Britain’s waterways and calling on the Government to do more to protect them.
Earlier this month Labour mayors also called on Andy Burnham to bring forward his plans to take control of UK tap water as millions face record-breaking dry weather and hosepipe bans.
The Prime Minister had vowed to take “greater public control” of the water sector during the Makerfield by-election campaign.
The latest classification of water bodies, which is published every six years by the Environment Agency (EA), has also revealed the dire state of England’s rivers, lakes, estuaries and groundwater.
The official assessment of 4,658 rivers, lakes, estuaries and groundwater found that just 14.3 per cent are classed as being in “good” ecological health, with many suffering due to sewage pollution.
Not a single river or lake is in good chemical health due to the high levels of toxic substances found in England’s waterways.
The UK has a legal target that 77 per cent of water bodies must have a good ecological status by 2027, but the latest classifications from the EA confirm the target is likely to be widely missed.
The campaigner and former Undertones frontman Feargal Sharkey called the latest classifications “possibly the most decrepit end of term report card anyone’s ever seen” and called on the Environment Agency’s board to resign.